


The Flow of Time

by narukamiyu



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21693340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/narukamiyu/pseuds/narukamiyu
Summary: "Historians say that, after a long and fulfilling life, they breathed their last at the same time."Moments throughout the lives of Margrave Gautier and Duke Fraldarius.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 8
Kudos: 105





	The Flow of Time

**Author's Note:**

> vague spoilers for the entire azure moon route. hope you enjoy!

_Historians say that, after a long and fulfilling life, they breathed their last at the same time._

* * *

"Hey, Felix."

The summer grass beneath them whistles in the wind. Sylvain closes his eyes, waiting for his lover's voice.

"Yeah?"

The sun is setting, and he feels the light gradually fade into night. The hand clasped in his loosens its grip.

"I love you."

He hears no response, but he is content. The whisper of an answer floats through the air, from a heart joined with his.

_I love you too._

* * *

“Did you hear? Duke Fraldarius is on his way back from the capital!”

“I know! One of the merchants was talking about it. The Margrave must be overjoyed.”

Sylvain doesn’t stop to listen to the rest of their tittering; he has a husband to embrace after a long, long month of separation. Not caring about the looks that he’s surely getting from those around the castle, he sprints toward the front gate as fast as he can. He’s glad that he’s not wearing armor. It would only slow him down.

The clopping of hooves reaches his ears just a few minutes later, and a wide smile overtakes his face as he sees his beloved atop his horse, too far away to discern his expression. But the way that Felix urges his horse to trot faster and then jumps off his steed makes it obvious.

“You missed me,” Sylvain says gleefully as Felix quickly pulls him into a hug.

“Idiot.” The arms around his torso tighten their hold. “I did.”

There are cheers from the townspeople around them, but Sylvain barely hears them. He kisses Felix on the forehead, on the tip of his nose, on his lips. Felix turns as red as a tomato, but he smiles nonetheless.

Goddess, Sylvain is so happy.

* * *

The fight is the worst one that they’ve ever had, and Sylvain doesn’t remember the last time he’s been so miserable.

“Sylvain, you have to talk to him.”

“I can’t.” He looks up at Ingrid, exhaustion in his every movement. “What would I even say?”

She looks unimpressed. “Anything is better than you moping in bed all day. Dimitri is concerned, and you know he doesn’t need any additional stress from us.”

“Okay, okay.” He sits up and sighs deeply. “I don’t know. Should I apologize?” He’s still hurt from the words that Felix had thrown at him, but he said some terrible things too. 

“I think that’s a good first step. And...I don’t know if you’ve seen him, but he looks pretty terrible.” She purses her lips. “I think it would do both of you good to at least talk it out.”

He _has_ seen Felix. At the training grounds, mostly. But whenever they pass by each other, he pretends that Sylvain isn’t there.

It _stings_.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. _I miss him._

When Ingrid pats his shoulder and takes her leave, he lies back down and tries not to think. There’s too much in his mind for him to succeed, but he can’t work it off by training, considering Felix will be there…

...Or not. His door creaks open, and familiar footsteps approach his bed. Sylvain doesn’t say anything, his heart starting to beat faster despite himself. 

The bed sinks slightly as Felix sits down next to him. There's a rare hesitance in his movements, and Sylvain glances up to see that his hand is hovering. He immediately reaches up to hold it, and both of them relax.

“...Hey.”

“Hey.” Sylvain turns his head to press his head against his husband’s thigh. Neither of them are yelling, which is a good sign. Hope flickers in his heart again.

“Sorry.” It sounds as if it takes some effort, but it’s genuine. Sylvain closes his eyes and smiles.

“Me too.”

A quiet moment passes as they soak in each other’s presence. Sylvain scoots over so that Felix can lie down next to him, and the two of them simply hold each other until they fall asleep.

* * *

The wedding becomes a grand affair, despite Felix’s protests. Their friends from school are all in attendance, of course, as well as their professors. Seteth is behind them, officiating the marriage.

Sylvain barely hears him. His eyes are on Felix. On the beautiful smile gracing his face.

_Do you take Felix Fraldarius to be your lawfully wedded husband?_

“Obviously,” he says with a big, goofy grin. Felix rolls his eyes and pulls him in for a kiss before Seteth can say anything. The cheers in the background urge them on, and the kiss becomes less chaste than is perhaps appropriate.

“Congratulations!” Ingrid says, a near-teary grin on her lips.

“I am so happy for you both,” Dimitri says, pulling them into a hug.

Sylvain thinks that this is worth everything. All the pain and suffering? It was no match for this moment with his family.

* * *

“Mercie,” Sylvain says desperately, “you gotta help me.”

She blinks at him serenely. “Oh my. What’s wrong, Sylvain?”

He takes a deep breath. “You’re good at matters of the heart, right? Well…” He looks around furtively and leans in to whisper in her ear. “I want to propose to Felix.”

When he steps back to look at her nervously, she’s just smiling at him. “Sylvain. Are you afraid that he’s going to say no?”

“Well, no…” He rubs the back of his neck. “It’s just...I want it to be perfect. It’s what he deserves.”

Mercedes clasps her hands together, and the warmth of her presence begins to calm him down. “What he deserves is your truth and your love. Whatever your heart says is the right way to propose is probably right! You two have known each other for most of your lives, after all.”

His truth... _t_ _heir_ truth. He nods slowly. “Right. I think I know how. Thank you so much, Mercedes.” He doesn’t know what he would do without his friends, sometimes.

She just giggles into her hand. “You go out there and show your fiancé just how much you love him!

Felix is at the training grounds, and Sylvain briefly wonders at the nostalgia of it. Visiting Garreg Mach had been a great idea; proposing here holds the most meaning.

When Sylvain steps in, Felix lowers his sword and looks at him. “Training for once? You’ve been slacking off.”

Sylvain laughs at the familiarity of it. “Come on, Felix. We’re on vacation!” He steps closer, his heart in his throat. “And...I’m not here to train.” Felix raises his brows, and he exhales shakily. “You remember our promise, right?”

“Of course. Our promise to die together.”

“Well...I want to add another promise on top of it. A promise to live together.”

Felix’s expression is unreadable. “What…?”

Sylvain collects all of his courage and takes the ring out of his pocket. “Marry me. I love you.”

A beat passes, and another. His heart races as Felix reaches out his hand. He takes it gently, removing the glove and gently placing the ring on his finger.

Felix ducks his head. “...Yes. I’ll marry you.”

He lets go of an enormous breath of relief. He takes ahold of Felix’s ringed hand and squeezes it. Felix squeezes back.

“I’m so happy,” Sylvain laughs breathlessly. He still can’t see Felix’s face, so he cranes his neck to look at him worriedly.

Felix turns his head away, and Sylvain realizes.

“You’re crying.”

“I am not!”

It’s been...so long since he’s seen Felix cry. Sylvain reaches up with his other hand to cradle his face, and Felix leans into it, a few more drops escaping his eyes. “It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone.”

“You better not.”

* * *

The war is finally over. After five long years, Sylvain lets go of the weariness in his bones. As he drags himself over to the front of the palace, he sees Felix leaning on the wall, looking equally tired.

“Felix,” he calls out. The other man looks up, and something in his eyes changes. They don’t run toward each other or anything like that. They have time now — time for new beginnings.

He can’t say who kisses who first. It’s just a meeting of lips, rough but full of emotions that they can’t quite put into words yet. 

“We made it,” Sylvain says. For some reason, his eyes sting with tears.

Felix touches their foreheads together. “We did.”

Nothing more needs to be said. There’s still a lot to do, but they can finally hope for peace.

* * *

Felix doesn’t leave his room for a while. Sylvain knows that he wants to be left alone, but he’s never been one to respect people’s wishes.

When he nudges open the door to Felix’s room, Felix is standing up and facing his bed. He turns around to glare at Sylvain. “What?”

“Brought you some cheese gratin. You gotta eat.”

“...Thanks.”

They both sit down on the bed, and Felix takes a few bites in silence. Sylvain stretches and crosses his arms, eyes roaming around the room. “Annette helped me cook that. She’s pretty good, even though she’s clumsy.”

“It’s good.”

He looks back at Felix. There are bags under his eyes. “I can stay here while you sleep. I brought a book.”

“Okay.”

They don’t leave Felix’s room for a long time, but Sylvain doesn’t mind at all.

* * *

“Man, it’s been forever since I stepped in here.” His voice is quieter than usual, even though he’s never respected the sanctity of the cathedral.

Felix is watching Dimitri, and Sylvain joins him. They’re both worried; how could they be not? Finding their lost best friend after five years, only for him to be in this state…

“It’ll be okay,” Sylvain says quietly. He doesn’t know if he’s trying to convince Felix or himself.

To his surprise, Felix nods. “The boar...Dimitri. The Professor believes in him.”

_And so do we._

Sylvain watches Dimitri stand still across the cathedral, haunted by ghosts long gone. “We’ll help however we can.”

* * *

Sylvain doesn’t know why Felix is being so grumpy. All he said was that he enjoyed teatime with the Professor, that’s all! There’s nothing to be jealous about...unless?

“You have a thing for the Professor?” Sylvain teases. He ignores the weird feeling in his chest. “Wow, didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Shut up, Sylvain.” Felix returns to slicing at the training dummy with more force than necessary. 

He taps at his chin thoughtfully. “The mint hair does look good on her, I admit. Her eyes are kind of unnerving, though. Still pretty, don’t get me wrong!”

Felix kicks the dummy down and marches off, and Sylvain looks at his retreating back with a frown. Was it something he said?

He never gets a chance to ask. War breaks out a week later.

* * *

Felix _changes._ Sylvain barely sees him these days, but what he does see makes him uneasy.

The air in the Kingdom is oppressively dark. Sylvain trudges across the castle in Fhirdiad, feeling kind of lonely. He stumbles to a stop as he almost runs into someone.

Felix. He looks as if he’s been crying, and Sylvain feels a pang in his heart. “Hey…”

“Sylvain,” Felix says.

The two of them stand there, neither really knowing what to say. Sylvain wipes his hand on his pant leg and steps closer to him. “Are you okay?”

Felix’s gaze hardens, but Sylvain sees him _._ The boy he used to be.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re still him,” Sylvain states simply. Felix looks away.

“I am. I just have to be stronger.”

Sylvain watches him walk away and decides that he should get stronger, too. He won’t get left behind. 

* * *

Felix comes shuffling over to him, face hidden in his hands. Sylvain bites his lower lip, not sure what to do. “Um…”

“D-Dimitri said…” Felix sniffles, and Sylvain pats his back awkwardly. “He said that I was small.”

 _Well, it’s true._ Sylvain sighs and pulls him into a hug, which Felix gladly reciprocates. He practically clings onto him like a baby bear. “You know, Dimitri is short too. It’s okay, you’ll grow big and strong like me one day. And like Glenn!”

Felix giggles into his chest. “You’re not that tall either, Sylvain.”

“Hey!” Sylvain grins and tickles Felix’s sides, which makes his laughs all the more louder. It’s like music to his ears.

“Sylvain!” Felix yowls, on the floor now. Sylvain crosses his arms smugly. “I win!”

“You cheated.”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

…

* * *

Sylvain yawns. He doesn’t know what the big deal is, with his father bringing him out here. It’s cold, and he’d rather be inside sleeping. 

A man as tall as his father approaches them, and the two of them talk about things he doesn’t care about. His focus narrows in on someone behind the other man’s leg...a kid?

His father’s hand lands on his shoulder. “Sylvain. This is Duke Fraldarius and his son, Felix.”

Sylvain steps forward, looking at the other boy curiously. “I’m Sylvain Jose Gautier.” He’s been practicing that, and he smiles proudly.

The other boy hesitantly steps out from behind his father’s leg. “I’m Felix Hugo Fraldarius.”

“Nice to meet you!” Sylvain holds out his hand for Felix to shake, and their small hands meet in the first greeting of their lives. 

Felix is wide-eyed but kind of adorable. And when he smiles shyly at Sylvain, it’s like the sun is rising. 

Sylvain likes him already.


End file.
